Coming Of Age Analysis

622 Words3 Pages
Robert Lipsyte is the author of the book The Contender. Alfred, the main character, finds himself struggling to live in Harlem New York; he doesn’t seem to have much going for him and he has no parents to help guide him. Then he forgot to tell a group of people that are breaking in to a store about an alarm and soon enough they track him down and beat him up for it; consequently, it leaves him afraid and injured. In the midst of staying away from harm he finds himself in a gym that trains boxers, and decides to start training. He struggles at some points in the story and even tries to quit, however the good outweigh the bad and he continues on his road to be a contender, and just when Alfred seems to have his life all planned out his manager decides its time for Alfred to quit, but Alfred decides that he wants one last match. His final match comes and Alfred loses upon arriving home he finds out his friend needs his help, so he goes to aid him immediately; Alfred is determined to not only help his friend, but improve his own life with the help of the role models he has come to look up to in the story.…show more content…
Coming of age is the transition of one person’s life from childhood to adulthood. When it is put into a story it is typically a story about a teenage boy or girl facing problems in their later teen years. In the story Alfred seems to be lost in the beginning not really having a purpose in life. He experiences many internal and external conflicts that start to shape his character from a teenager without a purpose to an adult with a plan to excel in life. These changes only happen with the help of his many role models and friends throughout the story. This is an accurate representation of how many emotional, physical, and mental conflicts people going through this time period
Open Document